Posts by Brian 3

Uber Eats to rid itself of pesky human drivers with food delivery by robo Waymo

Does the restaraunt get paid for now having to load the order into the vehicle outside? I don't see this being popular with them at all. Or with disabled people who can't come out to the street.

No joke: FTC boss goes on the Daily Show and is told Apple tried to block her

Re: USA Free Market

Your mistake is in believing the marketing bumpf is somehow indicative of actual motivation or goals.

White House goes to court, not Congress, to renew warrantless spy powers

Re: I thought it was just the communists & dictators who spied on their citizens & distrusted them

I'd like to add criminal charges for every single congressperson who voted for it, and every single person who used it. Life sentences for every judge who gave it their OK.

FAA gives SpaceX a bunch of homework to do before Starship flies again

Re: Moon landing

You apparently missed the whole "moon lander starship is a bit non-standard" what with the whole "engines at the top", "fewer engines needed to land on the moon" and that they'll all be vacuum engines etc. Pretty sure they have a plan that goes something like "we'll test this first before installing live crew", too

OSIRIS-REx probe sucked up more asteroid crumbs than hoped

Re: On the waiting list for Spring cleaning

I think 33 Polyhymnia should be at the top of our list - it's too dense, seemingly more dense than the densest material we know of. It's basically made of unobtanium.

Trump-era rules reversed on treating gig workers as contractors

Take it or leave it is a decision, not a negotiation. Negotiation requires back and forth.

AI flips the script on fingerprint lore – maybe they're not so unique after all

It doesn't matter if it's 1 in a 1000000 if the police are using nation sized databases, you're almost sure to find a match.

Re: "Discovery could have implications for the field of forensics"

There have been verified false positives before already, this is just more confirmation. Half of forensics is lies anyways. Stuff like matching bullets to gun barrels, handwriting analysis, all BS.

Another airline finds loose bolts in Boeing 737-9 during post-blowout fleet inspections

Re: Loctite

I think he's maybe being too lenient. Punishment for those in power has never been proportional or adequately supplied, and it shows all too well. C-levels and politicians should get absolutely zero tolerance of any kind of misdoing. Should be 5 years in prison for a speeding ticket, 10 if it's their driver and not them at the wheel. They always go on about risks and responsibility at paycheck time. There should actually be SOME, and they need to be proportional to the damages those in positions of privilege and power cause.

Cutting-edge microscopy reveals bottled water has 'up to 100 times' more bits of plastic than previously feared

Re: This has managed to scare my mother

Here in winnipeg, canada our tap water is soft and pretty high quality (about 120-160ppm TDS, 7.6pH) but the pipes in the city are all too old, break and leak every winter. So you randomly get sick off it, and bad smells. The city's warnings and supply of "portable potable water" trailers are usually late in the game and insufficient to cover the affected areas. I installed an RO unit and pressure vessel for drinking water and very happy with that. Top quality ice for sure.

AFAIK our canadian meat is not allowed to be fed antibiotics or hormones.

COVID-19 infection surge detected in wastewater, signals potential new wave

I sincerely hope you get the 4 weeks in bed infection like my wife got. Maybe then you'll "believe" in infectious disease.

America's first private lunar lander suffers 'critical' fuel leak en route to Moon

Re: Cryptocurrency????

Availability is also required for value to exist; if there isn't any they can't be sold or bought after all. If you can't find it, or it's out of reach, the value is only hypothetical at best.

GM's Cruise sheds nine execs in the name of safety and integrity

Re: Parking

I suspect it's CAPTCHA driven - someone was feeling fatigue from being accused of robotism again so they were larking on the second CAPTCHA, teaching the "AI" model that citizen == parking space.

Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean AI's not after you

“I don’t know how horses felt when the car was invented, but they didn’t complain that they were put out of a job; they didn’t go on strike. It’s part of evolution."

THE HORSES DIDN'T PROTEST BECAUSE THEY WERE SLAUGHTERED. This guy must resign and apologize. Get rid of this inhuman monster before it's too late.

US actors are still on strike – and yup, it's about those looming AI clones

I'm pretty sure that judge already ruled you can't copyright the product of AI - isn't that done then? What good is a movie that can't be copyrighted.

Italy seizes from Airbnb $836M in alleged unpaid taxes

Re: Having worked in Italy indirectly for Guardia di Finanzia

The super wealthy don't get arrested, they get settlements whereby they pay a fraction of the normal amount.

Scarlett Johansson sics lawyers on AI biz that cloned her for an ad

except... how do they prove the 'likeness' IS her? the 'beatles' song is just a cleanup, but generative ai can't be copyrighted year

Ex-GCHQ software dev jailed for stabbing NSA staffer

Re: Stabby stab

threats to society, are you talking about the NSA or GCHQ?

BOFH: Adventures in overenthusiastic automation

Re: Good use

The reason they do that is because they once had a turn signal bulb fail, and it cost $1800 to have it replaced, so it's cheaper to just get a ticket once in a blue moon.

Ask a builder to fix a server and out come the vastly inappropriate power tools

Re: Shocking!

I once TRIED to fry a NEC printer with static arcs - we were shooting 1/2-1" arcs from a small tesla coil into the I960 chip's legs for 20 minutes and it was still printing fine! End result was, the printer lived. The SDRAM chips were similarly unaffected, at least in the short term.

The problem with Jon Stewart is that Apple appears to have cancelled his show

And PROVABLY UNTRUE, at least if it's the USA we are talking about. Like most modern megacorps, their business is highly reliant on ignoring and abrogating laws.

Indian authorities raid fake tech support rings after tipoff from Amazon and Microsoft

I can only hope that Singapore's involvement is because that is where the scammers will be imprisoned. I hear they provide a 'deluxe' service to inmates.. Because we know the organizers of this won't ever see the inside of an Indian jail.

'Influencer' gets 7 months in prison for plot to interfere with 2016 US election

Re: Darwin in action

Can it be suggested as election interference the day AFTER the election is over and done? Or perhaps it was a snarky snub at Trump's recounts and BS. Convicted of election interference / voter disenfranchisement, he can never run for public office as I recall.

Elon Musk's ambitions for Starship soar high while reality waits on launchpad

Musk's timelines are inverse Montgomery Scott. So... multiply by 4 to get closer to the real timeline.

Police ignored the laws of datacenter climate control

I had an apartment like this for several years in the Colorado mountains..... it was very cheap and a nice location. Indoor guttering! All the fancy. The water would pool on the insufficiently sloped flat roof, especially in the spring melt there would be 8-12" of standing water, and it would seep through the roof and only into my apartment. For weeks at a time.

Tweaked Space Shuttle Main Engine gets ready for final testing

Yeah, NASA are busy building a nitro drag racer, the sort so extreme the engine block doesn't even have cooling because it only runs for 10 seconds. While crowing about how it's "necessary" and "important" to make it super extreme b/c that extra couple %! When they could build a turbo diesel truck that could be used, I dunno, several times?

Also, wasn't there a report that the production COULD NOT be restarted, because literally ALL of the engineers/machinists were gone, and so rather than calling it "restarting" production, it's more like, developing the production from the ground up all over again.

Devs learn rival Godot engine in a week to poke fun at Unity

Re: CEO needs to go...

Firing him is hardly enough, the whole board were in on it. Then you'd need to get rid of marketing or whoever came up with such a predatory and malicious plan.

California governor vetoes bill requiring human drivers in robo trucks

Re: Requiring drivers in autonomous vehicles should be for safety reasons only

It took me a minute to figure it out, too, but this has all been done properly. See, only 95% of the PEOPLE vs 100% of a CORPORATION, it's obvious which wins, right?

We probably have to do away with those things, really.

How is this problem mine, techie asked, while cleaning underground computer

Re: Dirt

20 years ago I worked at a PC store, and the most reliable keyboard we sold, of all the MS, logitech and off brand ones, was the $5 special. Felt like mushy peas were under the keys but not a single one ever seemed to fail.

Authors Guild sues OpenAI for using Game of Thrones and other novels to train ChatGPT

Just another new industry based on illegal acts. Hooray!

Google throws California $93M to make location tracking lawsuit disappear

Can we invoke RICO against the attorneys general for this farce? These corporations have not been acting in good faith, these were intentional acts and the corporations need to be disbanded, the assets sold and the remainder given to shareholders. Criminal Corporations must be ended, not fostered. Business is about trust, and there can be no trust here anymore.

Texas cryptomining outfit earns more from idling rigs than digging Bitcoin

instead of paying them not to mine, why didn't they just stop selling them electricity? this is betrayal of the lower class for sure.

Musk's mighty missile is ready for launch once FAA says OK

"could charitably be described as eventful" OR you could accurately describe it as "typical of an early development launch platform"

Northern Irish cops release 2 men after Terrorism Act arrests linked to data breach

Just the rozzers showing up what trashy people they are. Arresting people for their own mistake, but not the one(s) responsible for making the information public. And what a dodgy and dystopian law. It's so loosely written, just about anything could be talked up to qualify. A truly universal hammer with which to smite any who oppose.

Judge shoots down FTC attempt to stall Microsoft-Activision merger

Re: Get stuffed both of you!

Agreed. I bought one of the assassin's games on steam a few years ago, and didn't have enough rig to run it. 18 months and an upgrade later, I tried to run it and it demanded I create a separate ubisoft account to play the game. They've lost my business forever.

Aliens crash landed on Earth – and Uncle Sam is covering it up, this guy tells Congress

Re: "it needs to have oversight"

You're right, in this age of smartphones how can there be <secret laws we aren't allowed to know>? Someone would have photo'd and posted it on reddit, shurely! Your argument is stillborn. We have secret courts to go with the secret laws, and those accused can't even get a lawyer.

Re: Not impossible, just ludicrously unlikely

3. Research? Human researchers travel all over the world to all sorts of piss holes to study nature. To a super advanced civilization we probably would look like insane little ants, pretending to be 'people'. There is no reason to assume other advanced civilizations would not engage in similar studies. That's a primary method to learn new things, you know?

Hadar heats up race for better night-time computer vision, AV performance

I'm all for better Adult Video performance!

First of Tesla's 'bulletproof' Cybertrucks clunks off production line

Re: Joke

The original beetle did well primarily because of the whole cost thing. Cheap to own, cheap to drive, and easy to service, if a bit bare function. The New Beetle (TM) was expensive to buy and run, plus usually paired with crap drivetrains - though the 5 cyl and diesel were pretty good for VW. AND it was difficult plus expensive to service.

Why do cloud titans keep building datacenters in America's hottest city?

How is sleeping in a room with AC during the day substantially different from working in a room with AC during the day, and sleeping at night? Your idea only works for those with jobs that involve no AC, not really so much office jobs. Datacenters, well, they could be hot inside, some of them definitely are. But they are unlikely to be much cooler until late at night.

Producers allegedly sought rights to replicate extras using AI, forever, for just $200

Re: "address concerns of being replaced by AI"

What do you mean??? Snakes on a Plane was a GREAT movie!

Liberté, Égalité, Spyware: France okays cops snooping on phones

Re: Yes give the police more power....

I argue that he put himself in harm's way to justify it. Common cop tactic all over the world. "Make it look like you had no choice"

Threads versus Twitter: Shouldn't we be happy the wheels are falling off antisocial social media?

Re: Well

And there are the conveniently corrupt - those who find it convenient to have broken laws and systems, and are using such for their own convenience and power. Why would you report your supervisor's wanton and blatant corruption, when your own activities might be affected as well? Better to keep 'Riding The Gravy Train', right? Pick up some 'spades' on the way to keep yourself afloat.

Boss such a tyrant you need a job quitting agent? It works in Japan

Re: "maybe I just worked for better companies/managers?"

It's always about working harder with you, eh? As if you "know" the level of effort put into jedit's work, and have judged it to be insufficient. (just using the name b/c of the original comment). It's certainly never been my experience to be rewarded for more effort/results. It's been the opposite some times, certainly. I have seen companies which DO link remuneration with efforts/results, but the companies I have worked for will go far and beyond out of their way to find reasons to deny or ignore you.

Chinese balloon that US shot down was 'crammed' with American hardware

Sounds like it had a GoPro of some sort on board. I mean, those have bluetooth, 2.4ghz is sometimes used for radar, right? Bam, I cracked the code. The reason it couldn't transmit back to China was because it needed to be a lot closer to home first. The chances I'm right are pretty high, if it actually had anything 'disturbing' it'd be exposed to shame China.

Music bosses go after Twitter's unlicensed soundtrack to the tune of $250M

If the courts could take a loss as well we'd have a trifecta!

Megaupload programmers cop a plea in New Zealand to avoid extradition

Re: The guy changed his name to DotCom, for Pete's sake

He's a crook, but you're OK with the police / authorities being equally big crooks in the process of going after him? Only they don't get any actual legal trouble for their crimes, maybe not even a mark on their employment record.

Family-owned aerospace biz throws a wrench in Boeing IP lawsuit

Re: Boeing better hope the "inaccuracies and omissions" AREN'T fixed...

"The XYZ corporation takes its obligation to protect the safety and privacy of its customers and the general public very seriously, and..."

Well, the CORPORATION does, but however, none of the employees give a damn, nor are they allowed to. Too bad the corporation can't make any decisions for itself, I guess!

Re: Using the right tool for the job..

Please, tell us what your belief is based on? the 'rampant' success of the traditional players in the last couple decades? boeing never self-certify total bullshit do they? oh no, you never see where they didn't bother to do a test run of any kind at all before launch? only to discover the minor software bug in midair?

Are the 'standards of today' even real for a company like boeing? they seem to ignore them whenever they please

Brit data watchdog fines sleazy sales ops £250K for 'bombarding' folk with calls

Re: Pathetic

Too much violence! Just gently graze his plums over some gympy gympy leaves. Once for each call is enough.